Dallas Cowboys Blog

Witten on expected lockout: ‘It might be done today. It might be done six months from now’

On the day the collective bargaining agreement between the NFL Players Association and the league is set to expire, Cowboys tight end Jason Witten said he’s uncertain about the timetable of a potential work stoppage.

“You don’t know how long the lockout could go,” he said Thursday. “It might be done today. It might be done six months from now.”

Witten is one of the Cowboys’ player representatives. Along with linebackers DeMarcus Ware and Bradie James as well as quarterback Jon Kitna, he will be responsible for relaying information from the union to his teammates. He will do so while training for an upcoming season that could be jeopardized by the labor strife.

He said the teams who demonstrate a measure of self-reliance could benefit once the expected lockout ends.

:”The key is to have the right makeup of guys working out and doing those things to stay on top of it,” he said. “You can have a tremendous edge once the season gets there.”

Still, Witten acknowledged that a lengthy lockout could affect the Cowboys, who will be instituting a new defensive system under the guidance of Rob Ryan. A quicker resolution to the disagreement between the Players Association and NFL would afford the Cowboys’ defensive players more time to learn Ryan’s schemes.

“Hopefully this lockout will get done pretty quickly and it won’t take long so that we have an offseason to refine our stuff and make that transition,” Witten said. “Both sides are constantly working and plugging away, trying to get something done.”